Tuesday, October 02, 2012

In this paper it is
present an experimental study of bone modifications caused by human chewing ​​during consumption.
Traditionally, tooth marks have been attributed to non-human actors. However,
ethnoarchaeological as well as previous experimental work has shown that humans
can make many modifications during chewing.

Interest in the identification of human tooth marks is now
necessarily increasing, with three lines of research:

3)The resolution of potential problems of equifinality with
chewing damage by other taxa (Martínez, 2007; White and Toth, 2007).

Damages made on bones during hominin feeding
can be included in a general pattern that can help us to make inferences about
non-cultural signatures produced by hominins/humans. This model included:

(i). Humans can produce a range of
modifications similar to carnivores.

(ii). The greatest diversity of
modifications is found in flat and/or fragile bones, these modifications are: crenulated and
saw-toothed edges, longitudinal crackers, peeling and bend ends. Except for crenulated
edges, the other damages are scarce between the products of carnivores. Most
carnivores destroy ribs and vertebral apophyses partially or totally (Table 13).

(iii). Crenulated edges made by humans
have angular notches.

Examples of experimental human tooth marks

(iv).
Peeling done with the combination of oral and manual force is an unquestionable character of activity requiring prehensile hands. The morphology
of the fracture is no different to that described by White (1992). In these
cases, the incisors are used, as is done by chimpanzees (Pickering, 2002;
Saladié, 2009), like clamps to hold the bone and most of the movement is done
with one hand. In most cases small pits and scores are found close to the edge
of fracture. Crushing and longitudinal fissures are often found associated with
peeling. These partnerships allow us to attribute the tooth marks to
anthropogenic consumption with certainty.

(vi). Furrowing on
the epiphyses is usually slight. Scooping-out, although possible is scarce, and
does not always leads to the consumption of spongy tissue. The fractures edges
not show licking. In the very small size animals such as rabbits may be more
common resulting in shaft cylinders.

(vii). Tooth marks
(scores, pits and punctures) are also more abundant on flat bones. Humans rarely produce perforations and
punctures.

(viii). Pits may be
crescent-shaped.

(ix). Some scores
show flaking on the edges and bottom of the scores along their length. Others
scores exhibit occasionally internal micro-striation.

The results

The results suggest
that the range of damage is as extensive as that most likely to be produced by
carnivores. This damage includes furrowing, scooping-out, crenulated and
saw-toothed edges, longitudinal cracking, crushing, peeling and tooth marks. In
this paper we present a description of the types of damage observed in the
experimental sample. Some of this damage shows parallels between the
experimental modifications and archaeological assemblages from Pleistocene and
Holocene deposits at the Sierra de Atapuerca sites (Burgos, Spain).
The repetition of morphologies allowed us to attribute some of the damage to
tooth marks made by human chewing.

Monday, March 26, 2012

The volume number 247 of Quaternary International intituled “Neanderthal Home Spatial and Social Behaviours” resulted from the International Workshop “The Neanderthal Home: Spatial and Social Behaviour” organized by the IPHES (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social) on October 2009 at Tarragona (Spain). The 100th anniversary of the discovery of the Abric Romaní site, an event that is in keeping with the beginning of research on Prehistory in the Iberian Peninsula, and also the celebration of the 25 years of excavation of the IPHES research team at the site, was the perfect occasion and opportunity to organize this meeting.

Neanderthals cannot be understood and discussed without considering the research carried out on the Abric Romaní archaeological site. It is one of the most relevant Middle Palaeolithic sites, with a long and well studied sequence of more than 30,000 years of continues occupation by Neanderthals groups.

This meeting made it possible to gather some of the most foremost international specialists. It also offered the perfect opportunity to discuss and update the most significant research topics on Neanderthal behaviours, and provided new information about the behaviour and the social and spatial organization of this extinct human population. More than 60 scientists from all over the world, specialists in different areas, contributed presentations about these topics to the conference. New data from archaeological sites in France, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Caucasus, Belgium, Israel, Gibraltar, Jordan, and Spain were discussed during the workshop and are published in this monographic volume.

This volume is intended to represent the variability of approaches in current Neanderthal behaviour research, and the great potential of these topics and methodologies for understanding the human past. It tried to accommodate a diversity of opinions and perspectives that reflect the plurality of viewpoints among contemporary researchers. The ranges of topics covered include genetics, dating, paleoecology, geoarchaeology, micromorphology, zooarchaeology, taphonomy, lithic technology, spatial pattern analysis, and paleoanthropoloy, among others. The contributors to this volume provide important new insights that help us to better appreciate and understand the Neanderthals.